Arizona Coffee

A great drink for a Saturday! I’ve also ordered a chai on ice to-go. Here is a photo of my cappuccino from Press Coffee today. I usually get the 6 oz.

Press Coffee this week announced a new feature at their Scottsdale Quarter location: Toddy from a tap! Yes, it’s one of the more interesting things I have ever seen at a coffee shop. So, naturally I ordered an iced toddy.

In their announcement about the toddy tap, they revealed that it is the first of its kind in Arizona. Cool idea, and excellent implementation!

Stopped at Press Coffee today to pick up some beans. They keep improving the experience!

Today I had a cappuccino and an iced toddy.

Yesterday’s cappuccino from Press Coffee.

Press Coffee Roasters will be holding a coffee education weekend this November. They’ve attracted an all-star lineup of speakers. If you’re serious about coffee, or make a living in the coffee business, this is a must-see event!

Here’s some of the information about the event, which Press Coffee is planning to host annually.

A Closer Look Into Coffee: An Educational Weekend

There will be eleven 45-minute courses on a variety of coffee subjects led by some of our local and regional industry leaders.

Cost through November 1:
$15/class ($45 for unlimited)
BGA/SCAA/RG Members: $10/class ($30 for unlimited)

Day Of Registration:
$25/class ($75 for unlimited)
BGA/SCAA/RG Members: $20/Class ($50 for unlimited)

Friday, November 2nd

Roasting 101: Kathi Zollman
11:00-11:45

Water Chemistry: Jen Macias
12:00-12:45

Technical Machinery: Mitch Montgomery
1:00-1:45

Advanced Brewing – Infusions:
Seth Mills and Alex Mason

Roasting Theory: Paul Haworth
3:00-3:45

Saturday, November 3rd

Iced Coffee: Dan Suh
9:00-9:45

Seed to Cup: Jason Silverschlag
10:00-10:45

Coffee Pairings: Steve Kraus
11:00-11:45

Advanced Brewing – Drip:
Nanda Ibanez
12:00-12:45

Espresso Extraction:
Seth Mills and Alex Mason
1:00-1:45

Advanced Tasting: Juliet Han
2:00-2:45

BGA LEVEL 1 CERT
2:30-5:30

You can register for each course individually on the Press Coffee web site.

I often receive emails from people who will be in Phoenix for a few days while visiting a convention. Typically, they are looking for a good coffee shop near the Phoenix Convention Center. So, what are the options? Good question. Hopefully, this post will help out with the ones within walking-distance.

Probably within walking distance:

Fair Trade Cafe on Roosevelt
Website
Google Map

Fair Trade Cafe at Civic Space Park
Website
Google Map

Cartel Coffee Lab on 1st Street
Website
Google Map

One Coffee Company
Yelp Listing
Google Map

Jobot Coffee
Website
Google Map

Songbird Coffee
Website
Google Map

Giant Coffee
Yelp Listing
Google Map

Lola Coffee Bar
Website
Google Map

And, if you have a car or take the light rail… A little further away are: Lux Coffee, Copper Star Coffee, Urban Beans, and many more!

Also! If you are visiting Arizona, and flying out of Sky Harbor Airport… don’t miss 3 great coffee shops who have extensions at the airport… all in Terminal 4: Press Coffee, Lola Coffee, and Cartel Coffee (coming soon).

Press Coffee Roasters is selling their 1999 Ambex YM-15. It can roast up to 15 Kilo’s.

Read the rest of this entry »

Press Coffee Roasters today announced the ‘soft’ opening of their new location at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX). It is located in Terminal 4 at Gate B-9, which is the U.S. Airways terminal.

Is this the third local coffee shop to open a location in the airport? Not to mention, in Terminal 4 where both Press Coffee Roasters and Cartel Coffee Lab will have branches.

Lola Coffee didn’t release much information, but on their Facebook page they did release a photograph of an artists rendering.

Count me as impressed: I never expected to see a great coffee shop at the airport, and soon we will have 3 shops!

Update: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47608116/ns/local_news-phoenix_az/#.T81MAz5YuZQ

This just in: Press Coffee is closing their original location at the CityNorth complex in North Phoenix. The location will be closing after business on April 30th. This particular location originally opened in 2008.

After speaking with Steve Kraus, owner of Press Coffee, they cited their recent success with their Scottsdale Quarter location, and their upcoming location at Sky Harbor as reasons for closing CityNorth – that they wish to focus on new opportunities. The CityNorth location failed to pick up the growth they expected (probably due to the CityNorth complex’s slower than expected growth – it’s only half built after 4 years).

Additionally, they’ve recently opened a new and expanded coffee roastery / showroom on Broadway in Phoenix, to service their expanding wholesale coffee-roasting business. They have one roaster and they say a second roaster will be operational soon.

Their new location at Sky Harbor Airport is scheduled to open in late May, in Terminal 4 between Gates B6 – 14. Very exciting, and that location at the airport will be serving wine, food, and of course coffee.

A photo from a cupping this morning at Press Coffee. Alex pours hot water on the coffee in this photo.

Just wanted to remind everyone that Press Coffee Roasters is hosting a latte art showdown this Friday.

Who: Baristas & General Public
What: Latte Art Contest
When: Friday, March 2, at 7:30 pm (baristas should arrive at 6:30 pm)
Where: Press Coffee Roasters at Scottsdale Quarter
Why: Fun!

For full details, read this post for the full scoop.

Baristas and the general public are invited to a free event on Friday, March 2, 2012 at Press Coffee Roasters at Scottsdale Quarter.

Press Coffee is hosting the first latte art competition of 2012 among Arizona coffee houses, and this looks like a great event. Press Coffee has a wonderful environment for a competition like this with lots of counter space, and good visibility.

The competition begins at 7:30 pm – baristas should arrive an hour early. For questions or to RSVP, you should contact Alex Mason.

This location has a beautiful 3-group Synesso espresso machine, which is absolutely awesome.

Latte art throwdowns have become a pretty big thing in Arizona over the last 3-4 years. It seems that every major coffee shop has been hosting them. The most recent one that I attended at Urban Beans, in November, must have had 75 attendees.

Press Coffee Roasters (at Scottsdale Quarter)
15279 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Twitter: @PressCoffee

What a year! My wife had a baby girl (Emily), and we travelled all over the state visiting coffee shops. Visited Bisbee, Tucson, Flagstaff, and lots of other cities (still need to write about several of those stops).

Arizona Coffee has 6,676 followers on Twitter (up from 5,800 last year). Facebook is still a fraction of what is on Twitter, but I like the photo album aspect on Facebook. We have 527 fans on Facebook (up from 337 a year ago).

So without further ado, here’s the best posts from this year:

January

• The green paint is gone at Scottsdale Quarter — Press Coffee Roasters had just opened their 2nd store, and we visited and took some pictures
• Best menu board design? — Sparked an interesting discussion about menu board design

February

• A Visit to Dutch Bros. — My interview with the owner of the AZ locations of this franchise

March

• Arizona Traveler: Los Angeles — A handy list (in the comments) of some coffee shops to visit in LA

April

• Vinyl Rush, a coffee bar and cafe opens in Mesa — Photos submitted by a reader
• Copper Star Coffee celebrates five years — A Phoenix gem… how has it been 5 years already?

May

• A Visit to Carmel’s Coffee — A new coffee shop on Camelback Rd.
• Brian Clemens is your Southwest Regional Representative — Includes an interview (copied from another site) with Brian

June

• An encounter with a customer
• Intelligentsia’s Venice Beach — A visit to a coffee house in LA

July

• A Door with Character — The upcoming Mulch Coffee location

August

• Baby Arizona Coffee — My new baby girl, now 4 months old
• Do you check-in? — A discussion about location social networks, a whopping 48% of you ‘check in’
• The inventive coffee shop — Reinventing your coffee shop

September

• Lux Central: My first visit and some camera phone photos — Some thoughts on Lux Central
• Daniel Suh knows latte art — Thoughts after the SWLAC
• Latte Art from SWLAC — The definitive latte art contest for Arizona

October

• Who is your favorite barista? — 92 comments (some people thought it was a contest)
• Coffee Wizard in Tempe — Brand new coffee shop on University
• Results from Urban Beans Latte Throwdown — A really fun event
• Poll: How often do you make coffee at home? — 73% of Arizona Coffee readers make coffee at home every day
• Arizona Cold Brew — In which I ponder why nobody sells iced toddy by the gallon

November

• Mulch Coffee at the Old Town Farmers Market serves a smooth iced coffee — A Scottsdale gem opens

December

• Interesting Home-Espresso Machine on Kickstarter — I am seriously considering ordering one of these, but they won’t ship until December 2012

In case you are curious, you can browse my “Best of” posts from previous years: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

I’d like to give a warm shout out to all of my sponsors this year, especially:

• The Coffee Bump
• Ground Control Coffee
• Cortez Coffee Company
• Firecreek Coffee Company
• Coffee Bean Corral
• The Roastery of Cave Creek
• Service Associates
• Canyon Oats
• The Drawing Board Signs

Have a Happy New Year! — Chris Tingom

Christmas is a perfect time to pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie. And coffee beans make a great gift idea. I know my coffee buying goes up significantly in December… I purchase coffee for friends and family.

Here is a list of coffee roasters in Arizona that would love your business this year.

Phoenix Area

• Café Cortez Coffee Company
• Cave Creek Coffee Company
• Coffee Reserve Brands
• Echo Espresso
• Espressions Coffee Roastery
• Ground Control
• Highland Coffee Roaster
• Lost Dutchman Coffee Roasters
• Magic Beanz Gourmet Coffee
• Matador Coffee Roasting Company
• Momentto Coffee Company
• Passport Coffee
• Press Coffee Roasters
• Riviera Coffee Company
• RoasterX
• Village Coffee Roastery
• Cave Creek Coffee Roastery
• Firecreek Coffee Roastery
• Cartel Coffee Lab
• Xanadu Coffee Co.
• Xtreme Bean Coffee Company

Tucson and Southern Arizona

• Bisbee Coffee Company
• Adventure Coffee Roasting
• Arbuckle Coffee Roasters
• Caffe Luce
• Capulin Coffee
• Gadsden Coffees
• Old Bisbee Roasters
• Raging Sage Coffee
• Cafe Aqui

Northern Arizona

• Joshua Tree Coffee Company
• Late for the Train
• Macy’s
• Prescott Coffee Roasters
• Sedona Coffee Roasters
• Single Speed Coffee Roaster